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Zaprudering the Invite: Anything to see?

by Erica Sadun Feb 23rd 2011 at 1:15PM

Whatever you might think of Apple's grammar, there's not much this invitation's artwork is giving away. Of course, we all want to know: is there a camera up there? If so, we're not seeing evidence of it in the top-middle of the graphic. Perhaps there is a left-mounted camera hidden by March 2, or perhaps there is no camera to be seen at all, which will disappoint FaceTime chatters everywhere. Or perhaps Apple is simply being a tease ... as usual.

The volume toggle and mute switch appear unchanged, and I suppose it's nice to know that the virtual iPad has been fully charged before being incorporated into the invitation. The numeric battery charge meter is, however, out of action in this shot, which lends a certain falsity to the image.

The iPad appears to be sporting the iPhone 4 default wallpaper. Could that mean anything? Nah. Probably not.

Can you guess what technology or innovation will help define 2011 through the iPad? We're still scratching our head and making guesses here in TUAW-land.

Our own Kelly G. rolled her eyes at the language. While it's not TUAW's place to smack down Apple for a badly constructed sentence, we're more than happy to turn over pedant duties to our commenters. How would you have phrased your invitation? Let us know!



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Whatever you might think of Apple's grammar, there's not much this invitation's artwork is giving away. Of course, we all want to...
 

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broadcastdata

Perhaps the dog ear with the non-symetrical reflection is hinting at some type of non-glare display to be able to use outside in bright light.

February 24 2011 at 12:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rubén Gómez Radioboy

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Everybody says that Apple never shows the new products in their invitations. That is wrong, the real thing is that Apple has never shown an older product on an invitation, but sometimes they put parts of the new product, shadows and other things.

About the invitation,

1- I would argue that it is the new iPad, the meaning of 2 is basic. Is the iPad 2, there is not an iPad 1.5 or apps or other things. Is the presentation of iPad 2.

2-The sentence is just a joke about the statements of all the new entrants. All say they will win, but Apple knows that this is not true.

3- And effectively behind the paper there is a camera. In art and advertising, when you cover something is because you want to hide behind something. Basic.

February 24 2011 at 4:06 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Janichsan

I seriously hope 2011 is not yet another year of the iPad. I want it to be the year of the Mac.

Dammit, Apple, give the Mac a bit more love than you do at the moment! Blow us away with astonishing new technologies and re-designs that make the Mac once more trend-setting and attractive. At the moment, its development is just stagnant and behind.

February 24 2011 at 3:15 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Janichsan's comment
Rob Welsh

Stagnant and behind - get a grip! If you want a product which is stagnant and behind have a mosey on over to the Microsoft site and do a search for Windows 7.

February 24 2011 at 3:57 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Stephen

Where the camera would / could be is still covered up by the March 2 calendar. What a tease! The iPad rocking the iPhone 4 wallpaper (first Retina display) could be indicative of a higher resolution screen (perhaps Retina?, perhaps not).

The year of the Cloud. MobileMe may be announced as free this Spring (Mar 2 is close enough for me). The iPad 2 with free MobileMe and FaceTime and streaming iTunes music--moving toward the Cloud. Count me in!

February 23 2011 at 4:41 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Stephen's comment
Rubén Gómez Radioboy

This is not the iPhone wallpaper, is the last iOs 4.2 wallpaper.
And is in almost all the photos of the iPad in apple.com

February 24 2011 at 4:11 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Daniel

Hopefully the "Oh, and one more thing..." will be that it's available that week

February 23 2011 at 4:40 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Josh

Well I think that sentence means something and I'm wondering why people are saying it's awkward. Obviously it's a play on Chinese New Year ("the year of the rat, etc). So Apple is saying that if we watch the conference, we'll find the object/subject that will be the focus of this year. It's simple really. Next you might think "oh, it must be the iPad that is supposed to be there "the year of the iPad"... But I'm not so sure. What can the iPad do, but not without anything else released? - think previous rumors. Anyway...

February 23 2011 at 4:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Cody

Stranded prepositions are COOL.

Would you really write "Come see of what 2011 will be the year"? That's ridiculous.

February 23 2011 at 4:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
net whirr ker

IPS Display, Front and Rear facing Cams, 128GB Storage, A5 Processor, Stylus (who the eff wants to finger paint), More multitouch gestures, iLife for iPad. That's my educated guess.

February 23 2011 at 3:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
adobephile

It's a generally accepted rule not to end a sentence with a preposition.

But this is an advertisement which, by its very nature, can and should take liberties for the sake of impact and grabbing the reader's attention.

The "of" at the end of the line serves as both attention-grabbing counterpoint and implicitly asks a question as to just what will 2011 be the year of. It's an implied "fill in the blank."

February 23 2011 at 3:12 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to adobephile's comment
adobephile

Besides, have we learned nothing from Apple's "Think different." grammatical "liberty"?

February 23 2011 at 3:19 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ben Gresham

I also think that the iPad will be the first announcement - then the words 'and just one more thing' will follow :)
Hello MacBook pros :) which will be rebranded as MacBooks - dropping the White MacBook :)
It's obvious it's iPad - but what if there's more hey?? ;) looking forward to it !!!

February 23 2011 at 2:59 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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